Love You Like A Brother
by IIangelofmusicII
Summary: A regular day for the ASL pirates soon turns sour as Ace gets rather upset over something Luffy has done. Sabo reflects on brotherhood and its meaning. Valentine's Day fic, one-shot. Some spoilers up to post-War arc. Rated T for language.


Sabo could feel the wind whistling in his ears as he ran down the hill. The faster he went, the more violent the breeze became. The gale began whipping his hair around, and that encouraged him even further.

"Give me back my hat, you bastard!" he yelled, chasing after Ace.

"As if! Catch me first, and then we'll see!" replied Ace, laughing and waving the top hat bak and forth. He was taunting him, and Sabo couldn't stand it.

"Wait up you guys!" said Luffy, trailing several meters behind Sabo. Luffy was racing after Sabo, running as fast as his little legs would allow him to. Soon, the speed became too much for him, and he slipped on a patch of wet grass. He went head over heels, and began tumbling down the hill. Bump after bump, he flew into the air, until he finally crashed into Sabo. Sabo shrieked and the two continued in a messy ball down the grassy slope.

"Lu-u-u-u-f-f-f-y-y-y!" stuttered Sabo, uttering another sound with every ridge they rolled over.

"I'm s-o-o-o-r-y-y-y!" replied the boy, holding his straw hat close to him, as not to lose it.

"What's happening back there, guys?" asked Ace, turning around. His eyes widened, taking in the scene before him. Paralyzed, he could do nothing as the muddle of limbs came hurtling towards him.

"Ack!—" he managed to get out before he was absorbed into the mess of arms and legs.

The fact that Luffy was made of rubber didn't help in the untangling of the situation. The Straw Hat's flexible appendages had woven the 3 boys into an otherwise difficult position. As they reached the bottom of the hill they slowed to a stop and Ace was finally able to assess their predicament. It was difficult, but finally, thanks to Ace's directions, and Sabo's mediating when Ace's temper flared, they got themselves untangled. They brushed themselves off, and Ace returned Sabo's hat, while Luffy pulled his own tightly over his head.

"You have to ruin everything, don't you!" shouted Ace, pointing a finger at Luffy, who was bowing his head in shame.

"You couldn't have just waited till we came back, you _had_ to come after us!"

Sabo noticed a few drops escape the shadow of Luffy's face as they splattered onto the grass.

"Ace…" Sabo began, "You can't blame it all on Luffy, it was your fault too. Luffy only chased us because you stole my hat, causing me to run after you."

"Yeah, well it would've ended there if this rubber brain hadn't decided to be an idiot and ruin everything again!"

Luffy looked up at the two, his eyes brimming with tears.

"I bibn't bean to!" he said, sniffling, "I taught you guys bere leabing be behind again!"

Sabo placed a protective hand on Luffy's head.

"It's ok, Ace is just being too hard on you," he said, giving a pointed glance to the older boy, "as usual."

"I'm never too hard on him!" said Ace, "Luffy's just a crybaby!"

"That doesn't give you the right to beat him up like that!"

"I'm not beating him up! He's just too sensitive!"

"And what's wrong with being a little sensitive?!"

"He'll grow up to be a wimp! That's what!"

Luffy looked back and forth between the two, wondering how this had happened. He knew that it wasn't e_ntirely _his fault, and that Ace would never get so worked up about something so small as this. Of course, Sabo knew that it was just pent up tension on Ace's end, and Luffy had just had the misfortune of releasing it. As Luffy continued to wonder about the situation, Sabo began speculating on what Ace's stress was built on. As he dodged Ace's first punch, he realised what he'd done.

* * *

"Oh, Ace! So you went home before us?" said Sabo, as he brushed open the curtains to their hideout. Ace had his back turned to him, and Sabo was unable to see his expression.

"Oh, Ace!" said Luffy, following behind Sabo, "So Roger was your dad?"

Sabo froze, his heart pounding. Ace slumped forward in his seat, resting his head on his two hands. 'Did he really say that?!' thought Sabo, beads of sweat forming under his brow.

"Damn it, Luffy!" said Sabo, shaking Luffy by the collar of his shirt, "I kept telling you not to bring that up!"

"Luffy," said Ace, menacingly.

"Yeah?" responded Luffy, waving his hand at Ace's turned back.

"Who'd you hear that from?" Ace asked, trying to keep his voice light and failing miserably. Sabo made a weird choking noise, and spun Luffy around, using him as a body shield.

"From Sabo!" replied Luffy, "Hey, Ace! What kind of guy was Roger?"

"Stop it!" shouted Sabo, shaking Luffy "Don't ask him that, you idiot! Don't blow our cover so casually!"

"Let go of me, Sabo" whined Luffy, "I want to know!"

As they argued, Ace snuck up on them, and punched them both in the head.

"I don't want to hear that name ever again!" Ace shouted as Luffy and Sabo turned to look at him.

"What was that for?" Luffy groaned, "Don't be so stingy, just tell me!"

"You didn't have to punch us out of the blue without any explanation!" moaned Sabo.

"Shut up!" yelled Ace, punching them again.

"You could at least tell us something!" whimpered Luffy, "You meanie!"

"That's right!" agreed Sabo, "Brothers don't keep secrets from each other!"

"Shut up!" yelled Ace once more, "What do you mean brothers!? As of today, you two are no longer my brothers!"

"That's just what I was gonna say!" replied Sabo and Luffy.

* * *

Of course, Sabo thought Ace had gotten over it, but apparently he hadn't. Of course Sabo understood why Ace was angry, he would have felt the same had Ace brang up Sabo's dad. And of course he'd be especially mad at Luffy for bringing up Roger. Why hadn't he thought of apologizing earlier?

"Luffy, get over here!" shouted Sabo, allowing Ace to hit him.

"Eh?" said Luffy, "Why?"

"Just do it!"

Luffy walked over to Sabo, and Sabo grabbed him by the head, forcing him to the ground. He kneeled down himself until the two were bowing in front of Ace, who had since stopped his attacks. Sabo pushed their heads deep into the ground, grinding his teeth in frustration.

"Sabooo..." Whined Luffy, "what are you doing?"

"We're saying sorry, Luffy," replied Sabo, "because we did something unforgivable to Ace."

Ace looked on at this humiliating display, understanding that Sabo had realized what they'd done. In turn, Ace kneeled and bowed his head to Luffy and Sabo.

"You guys suck," said Ace, "but I do too. I'm sorry for yelling at you Luffy, and I'm sorry for stealing your hat, Sabo."

Luffy sprang to a sitting position.

"It's ok!" He said, grinning, "We're brothers, right?"

Ace and Sabo smiled at each other.

"Yeah Luffy," said Sabo, "brothers."

Later than night, when they'd returned to the hideout, Sabo lay in his cot, thinking about love. What it meant to be in love. What it meant to be loved. There were so many kinds of love. He'd never known parental love. Dadan was the closest thing he had to that. And it wasn't very close at all, what with the swearing, and violence. As far as romanticism, there weren't many girls in the mountain Sabo would ever fall in love with. Not that Sabo was interested anyways. Pirates didn't have time for that stuff. So what did that leave him? He rolled over and found himself looking at Ace. He rolled the other way and saw Luffy. And then he knew what love was. He reached out to his brothers and squeezed their hands. And when they squeezed back, he knew the emotion he felt was brotherly love, the best and the only he would ever have or need.

* * *

A.N.: Just a bit of ASL love in the spirit of the day. Hope you enjoyed! Reviews, Requests and Favourites are welcomed and much appreciated! If you enjoyed this, feel free to check out some of my other fics! Thank You!


End file.
